Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Oh! The Hypocrisy! Germany's Intel Service Spied on France, America, More

Germany's foreign intelligence service spied on targets including French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the FBI and the UN children's fund, a media report said Wednesday.

The latest news report on the BND spy service fuels a debate in Germany about state surveillance that was kicked off by the revelations of fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

The claims are awkward for Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose office oversees Germany's intelligence activities, after she angrily told Washington in 2013 that "spying among friends isn't on" following reports the US National Security Agency (NSA) had bugged her cellphone.

The latest report, by Berlin public radio, adds to the list of targets the BND has allegedly spied on, citing the BND's "selectors" -- phone numbers, email and IP addresses -- for surveillance, which has been the subject of an investigation by a parliamentary oversight panel.

According to RBB Inforadio, which did not name its sources, the service has spied on Fabius, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United Nations bodies UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

Also on the list were "many European and American companies, including weapons makers such as Lockheed of the United States," said the report.